General Notes

OCCU Fourth Earl of DerbyThis nobleman, upon the return of King Richard from captivity,took arms in his behalf and joining the Earl of Chester,besieged Nottingham Castle, which, after a brief
resistance,surrendered.  For this and other acts of fidelity, he was chosenby the king to sit with the rest of the peers in the greatcouncil held at the said castle of Nottingham in the
ensuingMarch.  Moreover, at Richard's second coronation he was one ofthe four that carried the canopy over the king's head. Upon theaccession of King John, his lordship, with the Earls of Clareand
Chester, and other great men, swore fealty to the newmonarch, but upon the condition that each person should have hisright.  His lordship was present at the coronation of King John,and 7 June
following, being solemnly created Earl of Derby byspecial charter, dated at Northampton, he was girt with a swordby the king's own hands (being the first of whom in any charterthat expression was
used). He had also a grant of the thridpenny of all the pleas before the sheriff throughout the wholecounty, whereof he was earl, to h old to him and his heirs asamply as any of his ancestors had
enjoyed the same. Moreover, inconsidertion of 4,000 marks, he obtained another charter fromthe king of the manor of Higham-Ferrers, co. Northampton, withthe hundred and park; as also of the manors
of Bliseworth andNewbottle, i nthe same shire; which were part of the lands ofhis great grandfather, William Peverel, of Nottingham.  KingJohn also conferred upon him a mansion-hous, situated in
theparish of St. Margaret, within the city of London, which hadbelonged to Isaac, a Jew, at Norwich, to hold by the service ofwaiting ujpon the king (the earl and his heirs), at allfestivals yearly,
without any cap, but with a garland of thebreadth of his little finger upon his head.  These liberal marksof royal favour were felt so gratefully by th erl, that in allth subsequent struggles
between the king and the refractorybarons, his lordship never once swerved from his allegiance, butremained true to the monarch; and after King John 's decease, headhered with the same unshaken
loyalty to the intrests of hisson, King Henry III.  His lordship assisted at the coronation ofthe new monarch; and immediatelyh after the ensuing Easter hetook part with the famous William Marshall
(governor of the kingand kingdom), the Earls of Chester and Albemarle, and many othergreat men in the siege of Mountsorell Castle, in Leicestershire,then held by Henry de Braybroke, and ten other
stout knights.And ther same year, was likewise with those noble persons atraising the siege of Lincoln, which place the rebellious baronswith Lewis [sic], King of France, had invested.--Other
FieldsRef Number: 8903244
DATE 13 MAR 1999